Dusting

Rita Dove is one of the most preeminent living poets in the United States. She was the United States Poet Laureate from 1993 to 1995 and the Virginia Poet Laureate from 2005 to 2006. She is the only poet ever to receive both the National Humanities Medal (awarded in 1996 by President Bill Clinton) and the National Medal of Arts (awarded in 2011 by President Barack Obama). She has published 11 books of poetry as well as an essay collection, a short story collection, translations, one novel, and one play in verse. Dove is known for her precise, evocative language and keen observational eye. Her work often explores personal, familial, and historical narratives. Her writing explores a wide range of themes and ideas, and her body of work cannot be described by a single aesthetic.

“Dusting” was first published in the November 1981 issue of Poetry Magazine. The poem follows a woman’s mind as she performs housework, putting her complicated emotions and her rich inner life on display. It appeared in Dove’s second book of poetry, Museum (Carnegie Mellon Press, 1983), then as part of her third and most well-known collection, Thomas and Beulah (Carnegie Mellon Press, 1986), which went on to win the 1987 Pulitzer Prize.